Port joins others in rescinding mask rule

The Port Washington Common Council, which just two months ago passed a resolution requiring masks be worn in city buildings, on Tuesday rescinded that rule and joined a growing number of governmental entities and private businesses that are relaxing Covid-19 protocols as the area emerges from the pandemic. 

The council’s unanimous support of the change comes in light of new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks or socially distance and as area school districts ease or prepare to ease mask requirements. 

The Port Washington-Saukville School District announced last week that masks will be optional for students and staff members during summer school, which begins in July. The requirement that all people wear masks in district buildings remains in effect for the final few days of the school year, which ends this week.

The mask requirement will also be in effect for Port Washington High School’s Sunday, June 6, graduation ceremony in the gym, although graduates will be able to take them off briefly when they receive their diplomas.

The decision to make masks optional was made by the district’s Administrative Council based on CDC guidance and the fact that positive Covid-19 cases among students and staff members has declined significantly.

“This seems to be the next logical step since there are few, if any, cases (in the district),” Supt. Michael Weber said. 

Summer school promises to bring roughly 1,000 students back to district buildings in July, but Weber noted that many classes are routinely held outside. 

Mask-optional summer classes may also give administrators insight into how best to start the 2021-22 school year as normal, he said.

“It (summer school) will be a good pilot going into next school year,” he said. 

Students and staff members are still subject to quarantine rules, although the Administrative Council has also eased those requirements. Staff members and students are now subject to mandatory quarantine only if they have had close contact with a person who has Covid-19 without a mask indoors or in their homes or if they have Covid-19 symptoms.

Masks will also be optional for summer school in the Grafton School District, although the district recommends unvaccinated people wear them.

The Cedar Grove-Belgium School Board lifted the district’s mask requirement effective May 3.

On Tuesday, Port Washington aldermen expressed few concerns about lifting the city’s mask requirement, which had required face coverings in the Niederkorn Library, senior center and City Hall, as well as in all other municipal buildings, although Ald. Pat Tearney, a member of the Library Board, said library staff members had expressed concern about exposing unvaccinated children to the virus at the library. 

“I share some of that concern with the library that we have children who can’t be vaccinated yet,” Ald. Mike Gasper said. 

The Covid-19 vaccine has yet to be approved for children younger than 12.

Mayor Ted Neitzke said an information campaign urging people to take reasonable steps to protect themselves and others would be more effective than rules aimed at people who are not fully vaccinated since it’s impossible to determine who has truly been inoculated.

“My worry is the enforceability of it all and the conflict the staff could be subjected to,” he said. “You go to the grocery store and 100% of the people there have been ‘vaccinated,’ so it’s hard to enforce.”

The Covid-19 protocols approved by the council in April, which prompted opposition from residents who considered them a governmental over-reach, came on the heals of the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to overturn Gov. Tony Evers’ emergency order and strike down the state’s mask mandate.

“I think I’ve gotten more input on this than any other issue,” Gasper said at the time, referring to city protocols that in addition to requiring masks in city buildings urged businesses to enact mask mandates.

The council decided in April the mask requirement would remain in effect until 70% of the population had been vaccinated. That goal now seems unrealistic, one alderman said Tuesday.

“We’re probably never going to get to 60%,” Gasper said. 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 55.8% of Ozaukee County residents had received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine and 46.5% were fully vaccinated as of Monday.

Although the resolution approved by aldermen this week does away with the mask requirement, it does not end the city’s health emergency and gives City Administrator Tony Brown the authority to impose restrictions to protect public health subject to council review.

The resolution also urges people, including the operators of private businesses, to follow CDC guidelines.